Medical tests have shown Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez escaped without injuries after his frightening accident in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, when his car flipped over in a collision.

The Mexican’s car was hit by the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado at the first corner after the Venezuelan came out of the pits. The car flipped over completely before pivoting and landing back on its wheels.

Aprilia is planning to return to MotoGP in 2016. (Photo: Getty Images)

Aprilia have announced their intention to return to the premier class for the 2016 season and motogp.com caught up with Albesiano Romano, Sporting Managing Director of the Italian brand, to get some pointers on their MotoGP plans.

Is your company’s involvement in the Superbike World Championship closely linked to your MotoGP plans?

Very much so. Our ‘Open’ bike is closely linked to the Superbike machine, so I would say that there is a good 90% crossover.

Lewis Hamilton edged Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg after an intense race-long duel to take victory by just one second at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.

The two Mercedes were predictably in a different league to their rivals and recorded their second one-two finish in eight days after Hamilton’s victory last weekend in Malaysia.

With no team orders, the two were allowed to race for the lead and there were several close calls when the pair came inches away from colliding, providing a thrilling spectacle under the lights at the Bahrain International Circuit.